Home Asking Price Index, December 2008: sellers race to cut home prices
Asking prices in England and Wales fell 1.2% in November and 6.0% year-on-year, with reductions recorded across all English regions and Wales.
This is the December 2008 edition of the Home Asking Price Index, released on 12 December 2008, under the headline:
Sellers Race to Cut Home Prices
The headlines and summary below are the report's own words, with the key figures as it published them, followed by the report's charts and regional tables as printed.
Headlines
- Asking Prices for homes on the market in England and Wales fell by a further 1.2% in the last month.
- Monthly price falls observed in all 9 English regions and Wales for a second consecutive month.
- Asking Prices across England and Wales have fallen 6.0% since December 07.
- The average Asking Price reduction in November was £20,174.
- South East prices dropped 3.3% over the last quarter.
Summary
The UK house price correction is gathering pace on the open market. Vendors are cutting market house prices more aggressively in all parts of England and Wales in the knowledge that buyers with cash or mortgage finance are still in very short supply and may be so for a long time.
The wider UK economy is inevitably suffering alongside the housing market as demand slows for products and services. The further 1.0% cut in the Bank of England base rate this month will really only help those buyers with large deposits and slow the rate of home repossessions. Sales volumes will remain low and 2009 looks set to be the toughest year in living memory for UK property.
UK housing market sentiment, whilst poor, appears to have steadied slightly this month. Asking prices of 175,000 homes on the market were cut in November, which was less than the 200,000 reductions observed in October. The value of the average price cut remained essentially unchanged from October to November at £20,174.
Key figures
| Measure | Figure |
|---|---|
| Monthly change in asking prices | -1.2% |
| Annual change in asking prices | -6.0% |
| Mix-adjusted average asking price | £244,602 |
| HAPI index (England & Wales) | 100.3 |
| England & Wales Q4 change | -2.5% |
Figures are for England and Wales unless the report states otherwise, as published in the edition.
Charts from the report
Laspeyres Index based on Weighted Arithmetic Mean of Weighted Arithmetic Mean of Regional House Prices. [May04 = 100]
Laspeyres Indices based on Weighted Arithmetic Mean of Regional House Prices [May04 = 100]
Laspeyres Index based on Weighted Arithmetic Mean of Regional House Prices [May04 = 100]
Laspeyres Index based on Weighted Arithmetic Mean of Regional House Prices [May04 = 100]
Laspeyres Index based on Weighted Arithmetic Mean of Regional House Prices [May04 = 100]
Source: HM Land Registry
Regional tables
Regional Housing Markets
| Current average price | Q4 change | |
|---|---|---|
| Scotland | £175,279 | +0.2% |
| North East | £163,569 | -1.2% |
| West Midlands | £198,029 | -1.4% |
| North West | £182,526 | -1.8% |
| South West | £257,637 | -2.2% |
| Yorkshire and Humber | £175,314 | -2.2% |
| Greater London | £335,144 | -2.6% |
| Wales | £188,654 | -2.9% |
| East Midlands | £176,644 | -3.0% |
| South East | £274,174 | -3.3% |
| East Anglia | £249,522 | -3.6% |
Regional Asking Prices for December 2008, showing % change in Q4 08.
Read the full December 2008 edition (PDF, 9 pages)
About the Home Asking Price Index
The Home Asking Price Index measures the change in the prices sellers ask for residential property across England, Wales and Scotland. Today it is computed every month from around half a million advertised homes and is mix-adjusted, so a change in what happens to be on the market does not move the figure; earlier editions state the sample they were built from. Because an asking price is set months before a sale completes, the index runs around five months ahead of completed-sale measures such as the UK House Price Index.
Every edition in the archive, back to October 2006, is listed on the index page. How we measure the UK property market explains the listing data behind it, and today's figures by area are on house prices and rental prices.
Text and figures above are quoted from the December 2008 edition as published, with punctuation normalised for the web, and are not revised. Later editions may restate them.
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